


All I See is Red with the Devil in the District

by jessicafreakingrabbit



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Another uchiha survivor as cliche as that sounds, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, Itachi is hard to write, Obito is an asshole but i love him, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Toxic Relationships, Uchiha Massacre, alternative universe, angst central - Freeform, cursing, may edit later, that’s all i’m Good for, typical dark Naruto themes, why did i do this to myself
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-04-27 14:09:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14427048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicafreakingrabbit/pseuds/jessicafreakingrabbit
Summary: She turns around to face her chasers. Her fingers instinctively start constructing the signs on impulse, nothing but muscle memory guiding them forward while the words naturally roll off her tongue as if they are a hopeless prayer to the lost gods of her forsaken clan," Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu".





	1. Arson

Natsuki jolts awake in her battered sleeping-bag, trying to catch her breath as the exhaling and inhaling of her lungs are set at an unnatural, quick, rhythm. The night terrors that plague her always appears when she shuts her eyes, making sleep a gamble. She could count on two hands how many restful nights she has gotten in the past four years.

The fire from a couple hours ago is barely holding a flame, but that didn’t stop the light from casting the biggest shadows across the cave. She watches them dance as her gasping slows down. She’s seen them many times before making the misshapen figures almost comforting. 

The woods she is currently hiding out in is still under a blanket of darkness with only a lone crescent moon lighting up the night sky. It was mostly quiet besides the crackling of a creek just below the hideout. And if one were to listen closely, they could notice the chirping of crickets casually getting louder and louder before falling back to silence like a musical symphony. 

The young girl flinches, the fading adrenaline allowing her to feel the wound currently resting on her left rib cage. She was scooping the parameter the previous day and had missed a tree branch. 

_ ‘A shinobi endures.’  _  The thought echoes in her mind. She remembers someone saying that to her at one point in time. The memory of who exactly forever lost in the past. 

 

The young girl slowly rolls over onto her right side after having calmed down and looks out from the cave. Judging by the placement of the moon, there are a couple of hours until dawn.

With a sharp inhale, she hoists herself up from her the cot resting in a sitting position against the cold barren walls.  Her eyes slowly adjust to the limiting light and what was once complete darkness slowly transitioning to hues of black and blues; the signature color scheme of her now dead clan. 

She scans the small nook she had crafted, looking for whatever rations she could find, but there is nothing but one small loaf of bread. 

Natsuki curses at herself,  knowing she’ll have to stock up on supplies now rather than later. There was a town with a decent market not too far away, about half a day’s walk. If she started by the time the sun came up she could be there by noon. Could get her a hot meal and a roof over her head too. 

However, money is going to be an issue considering she has none. If it was just a one on one exchange of goods, she could use genjutsu to steal it, but this is a pretty busy market at noon. Using jutsu would be too risky. It could expose her, a bystander could intervene, and there is always the chance it wouldn’t work. She did her best to train herself on it, her parents taught her a thing or two, but it was difficult without guidance.  She didn’t have the luxury of living in a hidden village, constantly surrounded by mentors, otherwise, she could have mastered it by now. 

She kicks dust over the weakening fire, suffocating the flames. If she is going to do this, she needed to head out now. It is easier if there is still a blanket of darkness overhead. She grabs her ninja satchel before heading out of the cave, jumping down the side of the mountain. It is hard to get to, but that’s what allowed her to stay in one place for so long. 

The forest is like an endless sea of green, but she eventually makes it to a dirt road where travelers often journey on. The black sky is slowly shifting to hues of orange and blue with the sun barely peeking out from the dark abyss.

_ It’ll be morning soon.  _ Hopefully, someone has the unfortunate fate of walking down this path

Like a predator waiting for their prey, she has mastered the fine art of patience. She could feel everything in that very moment. The itching of the fabric on her skin. The Uchiha fan embroidery resting nestles on the square of her back in between her shoulder blades. The way her black hair shifts slightly after the slight kiss of the wind. Her heart beating to the rhythm of each breath inhaled.

“A shinobi must make themselves invisible” echoes in her head,  her father or the academy being the source of them, but it’s was so long ago the memory blended together into one.

Suddenly, the sound of voices echoes towards her, gradually getting louder.  Instinctively, her hand reaches behind to grasp a kunai. Two men slowly came into view. Their bland attire portraying them as civilians, non-ninja.  _ Perfect. _

Her ebony eyes swirl into red with two black tomoes circling around her pupils. The Sharingan, her clan’s kekkei Genkai

Natsuki could feel her heart start to race producing a slight shake in her body. She gripped the Kunai even harder.  _ I need to calm down.  _ She thought, watching the men slowly progress closer to her. 

 

_ One. _

_ Two. _

_ Three. _

 

Natsuki jumps off the branch she was perched on, landing swiftly in front of the men, her long white hair trailing behind her. She took an offensive stance, catching them off guard.

 

“The coin bag. Now.”

 

The men looked down at her, startled at first, but then started to laugh uncontrollably.

“Do you see this?” The man on the right waving his hand, gesturing to her. “ A little girl is trying to rob us.” 

 

Natsuki turns her face in disgust while she glares at them.

 

“Hey, those eyes...” The left one said, their happy attitude falling flat the realization of what she was taking hold.  
  
“Tsk. Like I’ll let a brat ro-.” And before hey could finish his words, Natsuki is already throwing her kunai. It darts pass the man, cutting the left side of his face and meeting the tree behind them.  
  


“I’m not afraid to kill you.” She announces to them with the intent behind the words.

Fear finally set into the men’s hearts. One of them, reluctantly, starts to slowly pull out a bag of coins from his back pocket.   
  
“Stop. I’m not going to be bullied by some brat.” The now bleeding man objects. 

Natsuki appears right in front of him, thrusting a kunai cloak in a wind jutsu into his abdomen. The jutsu forces the kunai to completely cut through his chest. 

She pulls her hand out from the cavity and let him drop to the ground with a composure of shock. She glanced at the man on her right who appeared mortified about what he just witnessed.

He chucks the coin bag at her, before turning around in an attempts to escape.   
In one swift movement, she snatches the money off the ground with one hand then used the other to pull three shurikens out of the pouch tied against her waist. She whisks them away at the man, each hitting his back in synchronization forming a straight line. 

His body toppled forward and a pool of blood started to form from underneath him.

“Why would a Konoha shinobi do this?” he gurgles blood starting to cave into his mouth; recognizing the fan on her back being the symbol of the Uchiha clan in Konoha 

Her face twists in disgust at the mention of the village she grew up in. The fund memories she once contained for the village were no longer there. Just replaced with anger and mistrust. 

“I’m not with the leaf.” She responds coldly while forming hand signs. She pressed her right hand to the ground then a step back as the earth starts to cave in forming a rectangular shaped hole for two men. 

Grabbing the already dead one, she drags him into the hole leaving a trail of blood from the wound in his chest. Next, she approaches the man who was still struggling to live. Got to admire his persistence. She knelt down in front of him before flipping him over.

“I’m sorry,” she confesses. It was a good thing  _ he  _ wasn’t here. He didn’t tolerate any sign of grief. Without hesitation, she grabs another kunai and thrusts it into his heart like a wounded animal she was trying to mercifully kill. 

Natsuki drags herself through the woods, making sure to avoid the main road from now on. She didn’t want to run into anyone else or anyone that may have recognized her for killing those two men. The trees guarded her against the sun’s rays as she dug through the pouch of money. There wasn’t much there, judging by the coin count the men were barely getting by as well. Though the amount was little, it’ll get her some basic supplies. 

Sweat starts to accumulate on her forehead. Using jutsu and traveling was starting to take a toll on her. She could feel fatigue setting in, but she was unable to stop. If she did stop she’s not sure she’ll be able to get back up again. She could feel her abdomen contracting, looking for any nutrients of food to digest even though, consciously, she knew there was none. She cursed at herself for going this long without food and feeling she was about to be at death’s door. 

  
“Just a little further,” Natsuki says, attempting to trick herself into motivation. This is when pessimism, and unfortunate trait instilled in her, has its downfall. But no matter how optimistic or pessimistic she was, her goal was to live and to do that she had to keep pushing herself forward.

 

Through the window composed of earthy brown branches, buildings started coming into view. Natsuki often visits this particular market village. Despite not being a hidden village, the market almost had everything one could need. From a wide variety of food all the way down to its weaponry. Given how big the land of fire is, it’ll make sense the center of the land would function as a meeting point for trade. 

 

She snuck in like normal, swaying through the crowd being inconspicuous. She would visit various tents. Some older women would coo at the young girl, beckoning her to come over so they could give her a treat along with compliments. “Look how pretty you are.” “ Your parents must be proud to have a daughter as beautiful as you.” Some would give her discounted prices out of pity considering a malnourished young girl traveling through a village by herself is never a good omen. 

Eventually, she runs out of the stolen money, the last couple coins used to buy drinking water. She gave a quick thanks to the clerk and walks away, digging through the satchel to see what she has acquired. She tried to keep it as basic as possible: oil, bread, and some fruit for her rations. However, the one thing she still needed was kunais and shurikens. With a heavy sigh, she looked over at the weapons tent. There was a range of weapons on display: swords, various sizes of kunais, various sizes of shurikens, scrolls and explosive tags. The more expensive items locked away in display cases. 

She walks over, pushing through the congesting crowd to browse the items. She was just going to get some simple items, but something on display caught her eyes: a set of metal chakram. The inner opened circle was etched in gold detailing worn down from over the years. The outer circle containing the blades that appear freshly sharpened. It was just something about them that enchanted her, but she could never afford them. Natsuki glances left and right before weaving a hand sign. Suddenly her coal colored eyes were a vibrant red. While slowly outstretching her hand towards the exotic weaponry in hopes of running off with them she suddenly feels a firm grip on her wrist sending a chill up her spine. Her heart flutters as she turns her head to her right and lays those same red eyes on a shinobi headband.

“What do you think you’re doing.”

A statement more of a question, they were both very much aware what her intentions are: to grab the weapons and run like the thief she was raised to be. Blood rushes to her ears as the adrenaline set in, her heartbeat thumping like a hummingbirds wing. She contorts her body and tries to make a swing at the man with her free hand, but the motion is halted by firm grip wrapping around her fist, stopping the momentum.

_ This is bad.  _ She confesses, the intensity of the situation just fuels her impulsivity. 

The man glaring down at her is three times her height and built like he was carved out of a boulder. His features are rugged yet generic: brown hair, brown eyes, and facial lines that express the course of aging. This man had to be in his mid-twenties with the experience of wars and quarrels to go along with it. An experience she could never compete with. 

He continues to examine her until his eyes widen, finally recognizing the kekkei genkai she possesses. 

She knows that look inside and out, one of the many things that haunt her dreams. She had it beaten into her to run on cue if anyone recognizes the sharingan or her Uchiha lineage. Being caught attempting to steal was a punishable offense then add the sharingan on top of it… She’s come to learn that the eyes she possesses are a commodity. Either with her being an Uchiha they want to take her back to Konoha or take her eyes from her. Any of those two scenarios put her at risk.  “They’ll either tear it out of your head themselves” her older cousin once told her “ or use you for ransom against Konoha.”

Natsuki twists her initial arm, allowing her to squirm out of the holding on her wrist.  Then in one movement, she sweeps her leg against his, backed with enough force causing him to lose his balance and brake free her other arm before booking it across the market. 

The other shinobi station throughout who bore witness to the incident quickly sprint after her. 

The chase continues throughout the village with a path of destruction following behind them. Merchandise scatters on the dirt road and tents completely torn apart. Shuriken is flying past her. Seeing the slowness of time, she dodges right then left, trying to keep the pattern up while she runs. Natsuki winces in pain as one scrapes her neck. On reflex, she reaches up to cover the wound, put pressure on the bleeding, but just the movement alone is a miscalculation.  The sensation is sharp and thin, but the pain once the shuriken lodges into bone is indescribable. 

_ Fuck. _

With the opposite arm, she reaches down her back and dislodges it. The pain feeling much worse than it did when it struck her in the first place. She continues running, but it is a worthless effort as she feels them just barely a few paces behind her. Even if she did continue to run, she didn’t have enough chakra to keep up the pace.

Natsuki’s eyes merge back to that ebony black as her reserves dwindle. Completely unfortunate for her considering the enemy is about to start the second wave of shuriken. 

Increasing her speed, she lunges herself forward, crafting a bigger distance from them. Then, in a blink of an eye, she turns around to face her chasers. Her fingers instinctively start constructing the signs on impulse, nothing but muscle memory guiding them forward while the words naturally roll off her tongue as if they are a hopeless prayer to the lost gods of her forsaken clan,"  Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu".

Orange flames come pouring out of her mouth engulfing the land before her. With a thud, her body slumps to the dirt covered ground. The world shifting from reality as her vision goes completely black. The last thing she remembers witnessing are the terror-stricken faces of the enemy nin as a wall of flames headed towards them.

 

Natsuki awakes to the loud ringing in her ears and how she wishes the ringing is permanent. Once it fades away all she could focus on is the horrible sounds of screaming. At first, she thinks it’s her, but no. The specific noise is the conjuring of women and children, men and the elderly. This is something she never experienced before: a wave of collective earth-shattering screams accompanied by muffled cries. 

Utilizing what energy she has left, she lifts her heavy head off the ground. Her face covered with a mixture of dirt and blood. What first hits her is the smell. The horrible smell of burning hair and tar. Once the smell hit her nose, the young girl flipped over to her side and let out the few remaining contents in her stomach. She turned her head back with horror to see what remained of the civilian village, a village of innocent people.

The village, essentially, is on fire. The once colorful tents are either covered in ash or burnt to the ground. Produce, clothing, and weapons are scattered about amongst the collection of chard bodies. Children younger than her whom somehow survived the atrocity are calling out to their parents and deep down she knows their cries will never be answered. Those who had only suffered superficial burns are quickly going into shock. Anyone who is lucky enough to be unharmed is quickly running through what is left in the village providing whatever aid they can, but most likely it wouldn’t be enough. The horrid smell of burnt flesh pollutes the air and the once bustling city is now snuffed out in a cloud of smoke. 

  
_I...I did this._

 

A sharp burning sensation hits the back of her octave nerve. The pain is like someone took her eyes, stuck a bunch of chakra needles in them, and left them on an open fire. Her heart rate increases as she starts to lose vision. She couldn’t afford to pass out again, surely anyone still capable will come for her. It doesn’t take an arsonist expert to see where the fire started and the sigil on her back is a giant arrow pointing it at her. That jutsu screamed Uchiha, in fact, it’s one of their specialties. Still, something is wrong. She is too young, too inexperienced, too out of chakra to produce such a strong jutsu. 

While rubbing her eyes, hoping the black spots will disappear as quickly as they came, a whimper forms deep in her chest. The pain is unbearable.

With one long deep breath, she opens her eyes back open. The surge of chakra she felt at her optical features is now gone leaving the lingering pain as it’s the only remembrance. 

Natsuki, reluctantly, pulls herself to her feet and by doing so, Every fiber of her being screaming out in agony in protest.  She may be leaving in worse shape than when she arrived. She lifts the oversized arm sleeve to her mouth and nose, creating a mask with the fabric to block out the stench of charred flesh. If the smell hits her again she’ll just end up dry heaving. 

Quickly and quietly, the girl scatters through the town trying to find the sack of goods she had dropped when the nin first noticed her.

_ This is their fault. _ She grimaces in anger, trying to place blame on someone, anyone, else. Unable to take on the responsibility this magnitude of a failure entailed.  If they had just left her alone she wouldn’t have needed to use ninjutsu. If they had just let her be. If they didn’t kill … She stops her train of thought there, not having the emotional or mental capacity to follow it through. Focusing on the objective at hand is her number one priority and, right now, that’s getting out of this damn civilian town. 

Her sack is sprawled out one of the main walkways near a merchant booth. It is almost unrecognizable, the once light fabric is now scorched in some areas or completely covered in the suit. The contents of it lay sprawling out on the dirt floor. 

In one swift movement, she gathers whatever of its contents she could salvage and quickly makes way for the surrounding woods. Her heart rate slows once she reaches the safe haven of the bush. The thickness of the trees blocks out most of the sunlight, allowing her to disappear into the shadows, and leaving the terror behind her. Only a few miles in do the agonizing cries disappear. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Listen, I've been working on this for months. I'm at the point where I'm sick of looking at it and sick of waiting for my friend to read it before i post it. So, I'm just gonna do what every author does with their first work and throw it at the wolves. Love it, hate it, hate me, I don't care either way leave a comment or something cause I got a couple more chapters already thrashed out and an outline going.


	2. And He Shall Appear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She looks down, contemplating this new revelation, wondering who else could possibly be alive.
> 
> What else could he possibly be lying about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, I got the personalities right or at least gave a decent attempt at it. It's difficult? balancing what good qualities Obito has versus his Madara facade then add the layer of this being from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl.

Natsuki drags her feet through the green woods, the rugged mountain range coming into view just up ahead while the sun scorches into her black shirt having left the ever-expanding canopy of trees hours ago with only the slight comfort of shade every fifty feet.  

To say she is exhausted would be an understatement.

Her hands clenching a sack filled with what little of the contents she managed to save from the burning village. She was half tempted to just drop it a couple miles out, there’s barely anything salvageable in it anyways. Her grip tightens and her chakra flairs up thinking back to it and how quickly the incident spiraled out of her control. 

In fact, just by looking at her once can guess how out of control it was. Her hair is smothered in ash forming a light grey coat on the once raven black hair. Blood that was previously on her face has dried, molding with the dirt and creating a casting. The wounds from the shuriken she took were barely starting to clot leaving her neck and shirt stained with dried blood.

She shudders about what someone might think if they noticed her. Maybe assume she is a demon encompassing the woods; a scorching plague on the earth manifested into flesh. Or, at least, that’s what the guilt she’s been trying to bury is telling her. 

And it is guilt, isn’t it? She isn’t quite sure for what though. She’s killed people before, her older cousin made sure of it. She has slit both shinobi and civilian throats, driven kunais into hearts, and robbed unsuspecting people when she was low on cash or food. She’s come to terms with the fact her existence is only to be utilized as a weapon in the future for the Akatsuki. That is an absolute truth she cannot unburden and not even sure she wants to. 

But then why the sudden consciousness? Or is it the knowledge this is what the last of the Uchiha legacy has succumbed to-nothing but an unjust executioner. 

A sorrowful chuckle comes up at the thought of some poor sap finding her. However, there would be issues if they did; her existence has been hidden up until now. With the slaughtering of her family, it’s believed she died along with them, or at least that’s the narrative her mentor has worked very hard to create. She is merely a ghost from one of Konoha’s founding clans. If anyone is to spot her, recognize the symbol on her back and try to return her to the hidden village, or worse try to finish the job of ANBU, she doesn’t have the chakra levels to fight back. That thought alone makes her stomach drop. 

The trees are starting to thin out more, opening up to a patch of grass at the base of the mountain range. Her pace quickens as she sees the glint of sunlight bouncing off the water in the creek that tightly lines the mountain. The need to wash off the horrors of the past couple hours is all too consuming. 

So consuming, Natsuki almost misses him. A broad figure just a few yards in front of he sitting on one of the larger rocks next to a tree. The ominous man seems to relax, but the hair on her arms standing up warn her of his facade. She quickly slows her pace down to a cautious walk, gripping the bag even tighter in a fit of nervousness and fatigue. 

His clothing mainly consists of a dark blue shirt and black pants. A swirling orange mask is stationed over his face which he removes when she gradually comes into view revealing the face of the masked man. There are a series of scars circling around his right, and only, grey eye. How long they’ve been etched into his face she didn’t know nor was never brave, or stupid, enough to ask. Though he has his moments of kindness, saving her from a pool of blood and a chest wound being one, Uchiha Obito’s curler moments are more frequent.

_ And impossible to forget. _

Their eyes meet for a brief second while she walks past him. Her posture still very much defensive. He never went out of his way to hurt her before, never laid a finger on her outside of sparring in fact, but there is still a level of threat that lingers around him he wears like a thick coat; daring her, or anyone for that matter, to step out of line. So thick, one could taste malice on their tongues. When she was younger, she once found it comforting, the anger was fine as long as it wasn’t directed at her, but now it’s just as unnerving. 

Natsuki drops the bag and makes her way to the bank of the creek. Once she is at the edge of the glistening water, her legs fold over and she drops. Her knees land on the rocky base hard, burying themselves into the slabs of the earth. There is a faint sharp edge cutting into her skin, but a cut from a rock is nothing to her right now. It wasn’t until that moment the wave of exhaustion hits her. She is running on fumes when she got to the village and that was hours ago. How she is possibly still functioning is beyond her. 

Another mystery left to the gods.

Looking down, the water didn’t seem so close, more like stretching out for miles in front of her. She just needs to get what remnants of the incident left on her off. In a weak attempt, she outstretches her hands towards the water until another wave of fatigue hits her; this time causing her to lose her balance and sways to the side.

In one swoop, the man that was looming over her sweeps Natsuki up and throws her over his shoulder before her body hits the sediment. 

“You look like shit, brat.” A sense of agitation lingering in his low voice making a shiver run up the young girl’s spine.

He carefully places her up against one of the trees.

“ I didn’t save you so you can kill yourself from chakra exhaustion.” The man mutters with a slight detection of detest hanging off his words before leaving her to grab the bag she previously dropped.

Natsuki chuckles wishing she had something cheeky to respond with, but he’s not wrong, she probably does look like shit.

“I’m sorry”, is all she can manage to get out. With the excuse of “ chakra exhaustion” and “near death” tucked away in her pocket she keeps her eyes close, not wanting to look at the mixture of disappointment and rage he is wearing on his face. The same face that reminds her too much of her parents...of all of them. The real Uchiha curse is that they all looked the same, their very presence is a reminder to each other of the dead that are long gone. 

She lays her head back against the trunk, allowing the coolness of the tree to comfort her body, while Obito snatches up the bag from the ground. He rummages through the contents before the air around it distorts and the pack completely vanishes, tucked away into another dimension. With a slight breath, he looks back over at the young Uchiha, even a civilian could tell she didn’t look good. 

Using his Sharingan, he appears in front of her. 

“ No weapons?” he asks, already knowing the answer. The shit show in the civilian village prompted his visit in the first place.

Natsuki opens her eyes and lets out a breath of exasperated air already guessing what this was about. Of course, he doesn’t come by until she completely fucks up. She’s known for a while he kept tabs on her, just didn’t know how and that just made her even more fearful of him. 

She couldn’t pinpoint when that fear sprung up, if she is being honest, it was always there from the start just barely grazing the surface of her subconscious. His appearance in her life, right after the massacre, was too perfect, too convenient. However, being the child she was, she buried it or wasn’t trained in knowing how to pay attention to her basic instincts just yet. 

“Obi’,  If you actually stuck around maybe it wouldn’t have happened” the kunoichi complains, instantly regretting those words when she feels a kick in her leg that was facing him, a sharp pain following immediately after. 

“Can you get up or do you need me to carry you?” Obito asks, meeting her eyes with his one right eye, another abnormal physical trait she avoids asking about. 

She sighs knowing this was a test of her honesty. It doesn’t take the Sharingan to know her energy is completely gone. 

“It hurts to move,” Natsuki confesses, breaking eye contact with him. 

Obito rolls his eye before bending down to carry her. Within a second, they are already back in her hideout. 

He sits her down up against the cold wall of the wall. Natsuki flinches when his hand reaches out under her chin, moving her head to get a look at the scratch on her neck. “You’re lucky. Doesn’t look that deep.”

From one of the dark corner, a humanoid being emerges from the floor. The body’s face is split perfectly into two, separating his features into white and a solid lifeless black.

“ We took care of it, Obito.” The mouth didn’t move, but judging from the flatness in the tone of the voice, it was black Zetsu. 

“We also grabbed the ninja weapons you asked for.” The white one continues,”It was easy, they were mostly abandoned on the street.”    

Obito lets go of her and made his way over to Zetsu. Zetsu outreaches his hands from under his cloak and handed something to him.

“These are what you wanted, right?” Obito asks in Natsuki’s direction, holding up the pair of chakram she saw earlier, the ones that escalated everything. 

Her eyes widen recognizing them. She didn’t know rather to be thankful or terrified that he knew she was trying to grab them. 

Obito chuckles before setting them on the small pile of supplies stashed away in the corner of the cave.  He makes his way back over to her and knelt down continuing to look over her. “Zetsu, can you heal her wounds with the synthetic cells?”

“Yes.” The blacker half replies slowly, the malicious voice sending a chill through Natsuki’s body.

In an instant, Zetsu is gone, faded away into the walls of the cave. Zetsu making use of the ability to be anywhere and everywhere.

He reappears right next to her, making her jump despite the crashing of fatigue. He touches the wound on her neck, the coldness of it unsettling, then pulls away leaving only a mismatch skin tone as the only evidence of its existence in the first place. 

This has become their routine, she’ll get injured, almost fatally and Obito will call Zetsu to “patch her up” in a way. Her body is littered with the pseudo cells morphing her into a living rag doll. 

In fact, this is how she met these vagabond figures and why she is even alive. Four years ago, her family was attacked by Konoha Anbu. She still remembered the sword going through her chest, the feeling of its coldness sliding in and out of her body. She dropped to her knees, clutching the wound on her chest as blood, her blood, started to gush out. She should have died... would have died, but for some reason, the pain would go away while she laid next to her now dead parents. She remembers begging, wishing, for it to be over, but death never came for her. Instead, what did, was a man in an orange swirling mask and a cloak littered with red clouds. He appeared of nowhere, manifesting into the room with no announcement of presence. There’s no memory of when she got up, but the next thing she knew she stood up with a Kunai pointed at the phantom in a weak attempt to guard her parent’s now dead bodies against the stranger. 

He looks her over and chuckled, admiring her determination. He took a step closer, making her tense up, and removed his mask to reveal the one Sharingan and with the combination of pale skin and black hair she considered it proof of his Uchiha lineage, the same lineage that seems to have ended with her.

He put his hands up, palms forward, a gesture of peacefulness to humor her offensive posture. Like she could actually attack him head-on with a single kunai.

He gave her a grin and she suppresses the fact it didn’t reach his cold eye. Almost like it was a foreign gesture to him. 

“I’m Uchiha Obito.” He says, offering his identity to her in exchange for trust. And for an eight-year-old, that’s all it took. 

She surrenders her kunai, letting it fall to the ground. Her body starting to tremble from the weight of the situation. 

The man...Obito… walks over to her and places a knee down, allowing him to meet her at eye level. 

“ You’re going to be okay.” He promises a hidden lie at the time, just like that smile. 

She leans forward, wrapping her arms around his neck. This time tears starting to form in her eyes. 

“You lost a lot of blood.” He observes picking her up, paying no mind to the fact that her still bleeding wound was staining his cloak.

Zetsu emerges from the darkness of the house. “ What are you doing, Madara?” Black Zetsu questions eyeing him cautiously with a current of agitation humming underneath his words.  

Obito wants to ignore him, but black Zetsu is always persistent. “Insurance.” He states before disappearing into Kamui.

 

The detection of unknown strong chakra spikes jolts her awake. In an instant, she’s already on her feet reaching for a weapon. 

Obito watches her, amused by her reaction to their guests. He is sitting against the cave’s entrance. Dusk had already passed, the colors of the day have faded into hues of blue. Natsuki watches his darken silhouette, intrigue yet terrified of the sinister chakra inside him. 

She sits back down, waiting. Taking the cue that if Obito isn’t concerned then she shouldn’t be either. She leans her head back, closing her eyes. Her chakra reserves were still depleted from the other day. 

With being so accompanied by the sounds of silence outside the rustles of nature, she’s able to hear the faintest footsteps coming closer to the open mouth of the cave. 

Obito stands up to greet them, the sense of movement giving her the cue to stay alert. Her eyes flutter open, waiting suspiciously as the black silhouettes appear while she makes a mental reminder at this point to refer to her cousin as Madara. She still has the scars from the last time she used his name in public.

The first to appear is a tall man with a broad built. From the light from the fire flickering in the cave, she is able to make out the bluish tint of his skin. His face looks more shark than man and on his back rests what she can make out as a great sword.

The next man to follow is thinner and shorter and comparison. If she had to guess, he is an inch or two shorter than Obito. She squints in the dark, trying to make out the feature of his face by the limited light and then- 

Natsuki’s eyes widen, instantly swirling to red as she recognizes him. The slim features, the dark hair, the wrinkle at the inner corner of his eyes. The characteristic she knew to only belong to one boy from her childhood. If that wasn’t confirmation enough, the eyes looking back at her _mirrors_ her own with the same red and ebony pattern. 

“Itachi?”Her voice comes out like gravel like the pile of rocks dropping in her stomach. The last time she saw him was before her family left for the mission, thirteen months before the massacre. She’s always been under the impression everyone was dead, leaving her as the lone survivor to be rescued by Obito. Panic starts to consume her and her chakra rises. If Itachi is alive, if he is part of this organization, then Obito kept that from her. He lied to her. 

She looks down, contemplating this new revelation, wondering who else could possibly be alive. 

_ What else could he possibly be lying about _ ?

She shakes the thought from her head. Obito must have a good reason for keeping this a secret. He wouldn’t blatantly lie to her and if there is anyone in this world she trusts it would be him. He’s the one that kept her safe from Konoha for the past couple of years. The one that trained her to fight, to make sure that night never happens again. 

The shark breaks the silence first, noticing the sudden change of color in her eyes.“You’re a cruel man, Madara.” 

Obito chuckles, watching Natsuki’s bewildered expression and Itachi continuation of watching her like a specimen. 

“I see you’ve gained the third tomoe,” Obito observes in approval, paying no attention to the blue man, but that didn’t stop him from commenting again. 

“This is the kid you want us watching? One of Itachi’s clan? I didn’t realize there was any of them left.” 

“I just need you two train her, so she can be one of our spies and repay her debt to me,” Obito states, as a matter of fact, ignoring the last portion of that sentiment. 

“Isn’t spying Sasori's thing?“ He questions, not buying the bosses explanation, but more out of curiosity than insubordination.

“I like to have a few spies as my own as well,” Obito confirms. 

Itachi turns his attention from Natsuki to Madara, “ And why us?”

“I want her trained in genjutsu and Uchiha clan specialties. I no longer have time to do it myself and the Uchiha Clan heir is the next best option.” 

Itachi grimaces noticing the reference to him, not particularly like being referred to as the Uchiha heir despite its’ accuracy. 

“ Anything else you’ll need from us?” the shark asks.

Obito ponders, considering for a second.” No, that’ll be all. Continue on your objective of locating and gaining information on the Jinchuriki.”  

He looks back over at Natsuki with the slight twitch of hesitation and for the briefest of moments, she wonders if he’ll actually say goodbye to her. The thought is quickly disputed when the reality around him ravels sucking him into the void he refers to as Kamui. His existence completely eradicated from this earth like a ghost. 

“ Do you got a name, pup?” The blue man asks.

” Natsuki. Uchiha Natsuki.” Itachi says, more of an attempt to process the identity of the young girl staring up at him than an actual answer to his partner's question.

“Well, I’m Kisame.” He responds light heartedly, pulling the sword from his back, leaning it against the stone wall where Obito once stood and taking a place on the floor next to it.  

“By the way, you pulled those eyes out, I’m assuming you’re acquainted with Itachi.”  He gleams. 

Natsuki nods in answer, at this point not saying anything, but remaining wary of the two men Obito has abandoned her with. 

Itachi rolls his eyes, taking a place right next to his partner. 

“You’re going to be training me?” She asks them, trying to avoid her long-lost cousin’s spinning Sharingan. 

Kisame nods.” Looks that way, pup. Welcome to the Akatsuki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed, Kudos and comments are always welcomed.


	3. Old Habits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Obito naturally fluctuates between indifference and white-hot rage on a weekly basis. Personally, he likes to stay more on the side of indifference when it comes to most things in his life. However, when he materializes in Kiri to pay a visit to his favorite puppet, the Mizukage, he’s already a bit irritated given his personal history with the hidden village. Rin’s suicide still plays fresh in his mind on an endless loop after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair Warning: my interpretation of Itachi is that he is morally gray at the best of times. I think painting him as a savior of Konoha does him an injustice and pokes a lot of holes in the plot line.

“So, is this what you guys wear all the time?” A childlike voice calls out, picking at the clouded pattern cloak that hung on her frame loosely and simultaneously reminding Itachi about joining the Akatsuki at thirteen-years-old. The adult sized garment had barely fit him as well. 

They had left the cave just before dawn and started their journey inwards through Fire Country at a leisure pace mainly for their new team member. Itachi has been monitoring the girl’s personality along the way; mainly watchfully quiet, but will get into occasional banter with Kisame once the shark man is bored enough by the silent road trip. Which is fine for Itachi, he is no longer the target of Kisame’s antics. 

By now, the sun has risen in the sky directly overhead, or at least that is what Itachi has gathered by the few breaks in the trees. If they continue the pace, they can arrive in Waterfall Country within a couple of days with occasional resting points. Hopefully, this mission is quick. They just need to follow a lead on the Nanabi and report back to Peim. Lucky for them, the cut through Fire Country allows them to at least escape some of the summer heat. 

“I still can’t believe we’re on babysitting duty.” Kisame grumbles to his partner. At first, he was intrigued by meeting another Uchiha but was quickly disappointed when it came clear she has as many manners as Itachi. 

Itachi looks over his shoulder at Kisame with his usual natural composure giving a slight shrug. “Orders are orders.”

Kisame quickened his pace until he finds himself walking right beside Itachi.  ” Think you can actually teach this brat anything?” 

Itachi looks back again, this time at the girl, Natsuki, who is keeping a guarded distance from them. Itachi doesn’t blame her, they are all s-rank criminals and he did murder their entire family, but judging her behavior, she has yet to learn about the details of the massacre. There is no telling what information Madara has revealed. Yet, what is even more unsettling, is the fact Madara hid her from them for five years. Inwardly, Itachi curses himself for not even considering another one survive or at the very least Uchiha Madara will utilize the chaos to take one under his guidance. 

_ What is that man planning? _

If Itachi plays his cards right, he can get her back to the leaf. His little brother, Sasuke, might enjoy having another Uchiha around or at the very least get her out of Madara’s influence. He saw the way she looks at him like a lost ninken pup. He doubts she has had any outside interaction besides that man and his hatred. 

No, taking her to Konoha is out of the question. Too much of a risk for the village, he doesn’t know what her intentions are or where her loyalties lie but judging by her gestures she’s completely devoted to Madara’s will. If he takes her back, the village may fall into destruction. Perhaps this is that bastard’s plan all along in order to grab the nine-tails jinchuriki, use her as a type of Trojan horse. But, if she stays she will still go after the village either now or in the future and he will be compliant by training her. 

The best course of action will be to end it right now.

Itachi stops abruptly, making hand movements as fast as he can. He’ll make this quick and merciful for his younger self that considered her like a sister, for their cousin Shisui, for her father Ryoto. He can imagine, even now, the ghost of his mother begging for Natsuki to be spared.  No, his traitorous past is supposed to stay dead. He already gave his whole being for the village, he shouldn’t have to do it a second time five years later. After the massacre, the only thing left was a hole in his heart and after this, there will be two. 

He can still see them, his parents Fugaku and Mikoto, kneeling in their bedroom waiting for him. His father’s last words obsessively memorized to the point he can almost see the scene layed out in front of him. His parents kneeling in their bedroom, already in acceptance of their fate. Only their silhouette is shown in the moonlight. “We’re proud of you Itachi. Our pain will be over in a second,your pain, my son, is just beginning.” 

_ Your pain is just beginning.  _

That’s what this was, pain...grief. He had been so numb for so long he completely forgot what it felt like. The ache in his chest when he saw her, the physical embodiment of his sins curled up in a cave hidden away in Fire Country, too thin and covered in a casting of blood and dirt. 

He refuses to feel guilt, even now, he did what he had to do for the village. There was no other choice. He has a shaking suspicion Shisui, his father, and himself weren’t the only ones to awaken Mangekyou. If there would be a civil war in Konoha with the Uchiha, no clan in the village would survive it. Itachi sacrificed a few to better the whole, that’s what any good shinobi would have done. 

But deep down he suspects if that was the truth, if this is truly a righteous path he has found himself on, he wouldn’t have as much as he does trying to sleep at night. He wouldn’t see the faces of his family and friends as he slaughters them every time he closes his eyes. He still wouldn’t have his father’s last words ringing in his ears,

_ Your pain is just beginning. _

How much more pain can a man willingly take on? How many more times can a man willingly break for a village that has long forsaken him? A village he has completely wiped his hands of? Maybe it’s an insufferable need to fully complete his last Konoha mission, the same perfectionism that got him into ANBU at eleven and a missing-nin at thirteen, which drives him into finding out.

Kisame manages to look back in time to stop the scene from unfolding out. He reaches forward to grab Itachi’s arm, stopping the hand movements Itachi is quickly making.

“Itachi-sama. As your partner, I understand, but as a member of the Akatsuki, I can’t let you do this.” Kisame states with a remorseful expression, his other arm already grasping Samehada. “Like you said, orders are orders.” He gives with a half hearted grin.

Itachi watches him with his same cold expression. He doesn’t fault Kisame, he knows what this looks like: Just another traitor to his clan and, now, the Akatsuki.

They continue to stare at each other, waiting for one of them to retaliate first. If they were ever going to fight, it’ll be to the death and Itachi is saving his death for someone else. 

Kisame looks behind him with a grimace.” She’s gone. You must have scared her off.” 

He let’s go of Samehada and Itachi’s arm with a sigh. “ How mad do you think Madara will be if we lost his pet?”

Itachi looks behind him to see the empty space where Natsuki was standing. Sure enough, she was gone. He knows for a fact not even the sharingan can track his hand movements so her motives for disappearing are unclear. 

Itachi brings two fingers parallel with his face and closes his eyes, summoning chakra. Once built up, he sends it out, spreading along their parameter. There. South east from them was a chakra spike that belongs to his cousin. If they go at full speed they can get to her within a couple of minutes.

“She’s southeast from us, two hundred meters.” He turns around about to leap for the tree branches, but the sudden hand on his bicep stops him.

“Itachi-sama, when we catch up to her and you kill her, I’ll personally bring your head to Madara.” Kisame says with a serious tone. “You should know, I’m good at killing traitors.”

Itachi shrugs off his hand and turns around to glance up at the sky”It was a lapse of judgment. I thought i was back in Konoha.” He confesses dishonesty.  

Kisame eyes him suspiciously, but willingly accepts it. They’ve all seen war and have done awful things. A sudden hallucination of tragedy comes with the territory. 

Itachi tilts his head back to confirm that Kisame has accepted the lie before turning around and quickly taking to the trees. If there is ever a man he is afraid of it’ll be Uchiha Madara and Itachi wasn’t about to let anything happen that wasn’t strategically calculated by him. 

Kisame chuckles, sprinting next to him. “ At one minute you’re willing to kill her and at the next you’re running after her. You really are a mystery, Itachi. “

  
  
  


Obito naturally fluctuates between indifference and white hot rage on a weekly basis. Personally, he likes to stay more on the side of indifference when it comes to most things in his life. However, when he materializes in Kiri to pay a visit to his favorite puppet, the Mizukage, he’s already a bit irritated given his personal history with the hidden village. Rin’s suicide still plays fresh in his mind on an endless loop after all. 

But, that doesn’t stop him from getting what amusement he can out of the village. Utilizing the mizukage not only to plague his own people, but the other villages as well, was the greatest thing he ever did.  

This is a routine checkup, in and out. He listens in on a few important meetings, refresh the genjutsu on the bijuu, and sly suggests causing issues with lightening country to stir the pot in this time of peace… a peace he never got to experience as a kid and neither should the next generation. 

So, given the circumstances, he would put his irritableness to a generous five and today’s agenda contains some objectives that lets him let off some steam to some Kiri nin, he predicts it’ll come back down to a two. 

However, when he walks out of a meeting, genjutsu activated to cloak him, and Zetsu shows up, the dial steadily increases. 

His eye narrow at the humanoid monster, his appearance here even though they rendez-vous a couple days ago a clear sign that one of his many plans is going wrong. Now which one is anyone’s guess.

Obito tilts his head to the side, gesturing to the nearest empty room where they can speak in private. He has a lot of reach in Kiri, with most of the nin in his pocket, but he still wants to walk on the side of caution for it’s caution that has gotten him this far in the first place. 

Zetsu slithers back into the ground while Obito phases into the empty room through the door. The humanoid monster quickly appearing again, this time growing out in full length like the weed Obito likes to mentally compare him to. 

“Obito,” the black one says” we got a problem.”

“Itachi tried to kill Natsuki and the girl has run off. Kisame and Itachi are in pursuit of her.” White Zetsu chimes in, all too amused at the turn of events.

Well, not a complete worst case scenario, but still an annoyance that quickly has him approaching white hot rage. 

He forces the chakra build up down as much as possible, not wanting the unforeseen spike to blow his genjutsu cover.  He couldn’t say he’s that surprised, the possibility of Itachi turning on their cousin was an option he considered, but an option he passed off as unlikely. As of now, Natsuki is still no threat to Konoha and not the s-rank terrorist he would like her to be. She has potential, sure, that’s why he spared her life in the first place, but she’s still an eleven year-old brat that just causes the occasional trouble and petty manslaughter.

_ Clearly, _ Obito misjudged the massacre as a one time occurrence for Itachi. He didn’t expect the kid’s default setting for familial drama to be so strongly set to  _ genocide _ . 

But still, that doesn’t change his decision to stick her with Kisame and Itachi. Itachi is more skilled in Uchiha jutsu, given his possession as the Uchiha heir, while Obito’s Uchiha Jutsu heavily relies on kamui. He needs Natsuki to be quickly molded into a weapon and the Uchiha genius is the best option.He always known Itachi’s loyalty to the Akatsuki is finickie at best. It’s one of the reasons he partnered Kisame with Itachi. 

If there was anyone he trusts the most in the Akatsuki, it was Kisame, given the fact the man is the only one outside of Zetsu to know his true identity. And, if there was anyone in the Akatsuki who could take on Itachi besides himself and Pein, it was the man who earned the name “the beast with no tail”. 

However, Itachi still actively tried to cross him and for that act alone he needs to retaliate. Kami knows he doesn’t have the time for such blatant insubordination within his own organization. From this moment on, his chess pieces are in place and he just needs to set them all in motion. 

Obito takes a deep breath in an attempt to ground himself. It’s a weak attempt, but an attempt none of the less. “ Where’d she go?” 

Zetsu tilts his head to the side, considering the question.” She’s running south...about eight miles north of Konoha.”  

Before Zetsu can annoy him any further, Obito is already distorting reality, vanishing into Kamui, and reappearing in a woodland environment. A contrasting difference against Kiri. 

He can already sense her jumping through the trees to his right, fast for her age, but still nothing compared to him. 

Within an instant, he was in front of her, cutting her off from proceeding. She staggers back, almost falling off a tree branch with fear in her eyes, the grip on the two chakram blades tightening. Obito, the jealous asshole that he is, is a little hurt this is one of the few times that fear isn’t directed at him, but a different, more irritating Uchiha. 

“Already running away, brat?” He teases, trying his best to be light hearted to get her to come over to him like he’s trying to catch a street cat.  

Normally, he would have no problem chasing her around and knapping her up, but that would take more time than he has. And given their location, he doesn’t want to risk running into Konoha nin. He’s made a considerable amount of effort in making sure her existence stayed a secret outside of Konoha’s Root organization  and he like to keep it that way. Konoha already knows the Akatsuki has Itachi, he needs to have another sharingan user, besides himself, hidden away in his deck of cards. Honestly, a root ninja finding them would be better than a normal scout. He’d rather her be eliminated, not be in the game at all, than dragged back to Konoha and manipulated into being one of their child soldiers. Despite his anger issues, Obito plays the long game. He knows every single piece he has and just how to manipulate them.

Natsuki glares at him,” He’s trying to kill me.” 

Obito pushes to the branch in front of him, trying to carefully close the gap. He can see her stiffen while he tries to choose his next words.

“I’m sorry, kid.” Is his best response,”If I’d known it was a possibility, i wouldn’t have left you with him.” 

He sees her relax by dropping her shoulders. A bit amused at how easy it is to lie to her and hops to the next branch. This time she willingly meets him there. He grins and opens her arms out for her, allowing her to embrace him. 

“ Why can’t i just come with you?” She pleads. 

Obito’s eye shifts to his Mangekyou and he lifts her head up, shock going across her face then blankness as she falls into his genjutsu.

“Because, brat, I have a war to plan.” He says, a little too cruelty, but he doesn’t care, the girl’s body is going limp as his genjutsu takes over and picks her up.

_ One problem down. _ He thinks, looking north as he sense two large chakras approaching their direction,  _ two more to go. _

He perches the girl up against the tree trunk on the branch they’re standing on. Next, he leisurely sits down, waiting for his subordinates to approach, and materializes one of his masks to cover his face, but keeping his mouth slightly exposed.

Even though Kisame knows his identity, he’s not ready for Itachi to know what his face looks like and, god forbid, recognizes him. The twerp might have been four when he went M.I.A. At Kannabi Bridge, but he was around Shisui and Mikoto enough for their to be a possibility he might remember him or recognize him from a photo and he can’t run the risk.

 

Two blurred figures approach on the branches below him. He weaves some hand signs, ending on tiger. 

_ Katon. _

Both Kisame and Itachi look up in time to quickly dodge. Kisame goes to the left and Itachi, the right, both landing on the ground. 

Obito lowly laughs, moving his mask over the bottom half of his face, and  jumps down, landing on an uncharted branch the hovers above Itachi, “ _ Tsk, _ Itachi, you know the punishment for treason in the Akatsuki is death.” 

If the sixteen year old is fearful of him, he doesn’t show it, and that just pisses Obito off even more. He pushes down his chakra just enough it’s not out of control. 

Kisame comes bouncing over, keeping a respectable distance from them. At least someone in his organization has some sense.

“ Kisame,” he commands, not breaking eye contact with Itachi, ”This is a family matter, go get the girl up ahead, i put her in a genjutsu and left her on one of the branches.” 

He doesn’t have to look over to know Kisame quickly disperses to follow orders. 

Itachi gets up, brushing the dirt off his cloak patterned with red clouds, the Akatsuki uniform representing the bringer of dawn. 

Obito watches him, gauging him as he collects his thoughts. He should kill him, attempting treason is one step away from actually committing treason. But as of right now, he doesn’t have a plan B. for Natsuki and Uchiha’s are now a rarity. Sasuke is about Natsuki’s age and is not ready for Obito to pluck him from Konoha just yet. The future contains three Uchiha kids for Obito to play with and he’s not going to deny himself that small amusement in life. 

Oh, he hopes Fugaku and Madara are rolling in their unmarked graves right about now, the bastards. 

He hears Kisame plopping on the branch behind him, watching the tension unfold while carrying the unconscious Uchiha girl. 

Honestly if it was anyone other than these two he would have killed them off instantly.

“I’m going to assume,” He states, smiling as he feels them both tense up a bit,” that this was a lapse of judgment and I’m feeling a bit  _ merciful.  _ So, Itachi, consider this your last and only warning. Pull that shit again, not only will i make sure your death is as painful as possible, but I’ll pay a certain young boy in Konoha a visit as well.” 

Obito grins ear to ear under his spiral mask as he watches the man stiffen. Threatening Sasuke should keep the genocidal maniac enough in check. 

Leaving the two with that, he activates his Mangekyou and reality starts to break down around him as he disperses into Kamui. 

_ This really is too easy.  _

 


End file.
